President-elect Barack Obama’s new transition web site is pledging to review every major defense program for possible cuts, and recommendations are pouring into the binders of his transition team on which bloated, developmentally-stunted weapons to target. For example, a DOD panel of private-sector honchos recently found that just five programs—including the Joint Strike Fighter and Future Combat Systems—accounted for more than half the $400 billion cost growth for major defense acquisition programs between 2000 and 2007.  

Many tongues are wagging about the inevitability of major spending cuts across the military. But it’s the outcomes of key Congressional races that are more likely to determine which weapons live or die. Voters in districts and states heavy with defense industry jobs largely voted their representatives back into office: 13 of the 15 lawmakers associated with the weapons below retained their seats, while the two outgoing politicians left voluntarily (and one, Senator Saxby Chambliss, is in a runoff election). Going mano a mano with these leaders come appropriations time may prove one of Obama’s tougher tests. Here’s an update on how some of the most expensive weapons and their legislative champions did on Tuesday. 

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

The price of this cross-military fighter plane has increased more than $55 billion, or 25% since its 2001 launch, and delivery slipped by at least two years. Produced by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Northrup Grumman and BAE Systems, the plane is assembled in the Fort Worth district of Kay Granger (R-TX) who easily won reelection. Major components are manufactured in the El Segundo district of Jane Harman (D-CA) and the Palmdale district (home of Edwards AFB) of Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), both of whom were reelected. Congress has added nearly $1 billion over the past three appropriations cycles for alternate engine contracts against DOD’s wishes, one for GE/Rolls Royce in Ohio and the other by Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut. Though Congress says a second program will save money, sponsors of the earmarks tend to represent districts that will get the jobs: four Ohio members sponsored a $170 million earmark for the program in 2007, while returning Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) sponsored a $480 million earmark in 2008 for Rolls Royce North America after North Carolina was announced as one of eight states being considered for new facilities. Rep. John Larson (D-CT), whose district includes Pratt & Whitney, also retained his seat.

Future Combat Systems

Costs for the Army’s massive “modernization” program have increased more than 75 percent and the schedule stretched by eight years. FCS comprises 14 separate weapons linked by a computer network and released in phases or “spin-outs.” The program is managed by Boeing in its Huntington Beach office, represented by Republican Dana Rohrbacher, who will stay in office. Spin-out one is being tested at Fort Bliss in the Texas district of Democrat Silvestre Reyes, who also kept a firm hold on his seat. The “system of systems” approach of FCS—Boeing has reportedly commissioned over 250 subcontractors in 41 states and 220 Congressional districts—means various lawmakers can stand up for components produced in their state even though Congress has cut hundreds of millions from the programs budget. For example, reelected Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) added $50 million to the 2006 spending bill for the Non Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS-C), manufactured by BAE Systems and assembled in Elgin, Oklahoma. 

Designed to take on Cold War era Soviet fighter planes, the Raptor is a relic kept alive in large part by manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s canny distribution of its production across 44 states. The plane is primarily assembled at Lockheed plants in Palmdale, Fort Worth (see: McKeon and Granger above), and Marietta, Georgia. Marietta is represented by Republicans Tom Price and Senator Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss, who sits on the Senate Armed Force Committee, has pushed hard for the F-22, introducing an amendment in 2006 to expand the plane’s multiyear procurement (in language suspiciously close to that of a proposal drafted by Lockheed Martin). The Defense Department budgeted $400 million in 2009 to shut down the line, but ended up directing the money toward new planes in order to “defer the decision” on whether or not to shut the line down.  

C-17 Globemaster

Another program given just enough money to hang in limbo until the new administration decides whether or not to cut bait. Millions in shutdown costs proposed by the Office of Management and Budget were taken out of the FY 2008 budget by the Air Force. Meanwhile, 10 more of the Boeing planes, assembled primarily in St. Louis, MO and Long Beach, CA, were added to the 2008 defense authorization bill via an earmark sponsored by seven lawmakers, including Missouri representatives Todd Akin (R), Russ Carnahan (D) and Kenny Hulshof (R). Akin and Carnahan won reelection, while Hulshof surrendered his seat for an unsuccessful run for governor. The C-17 also benefited from heavy lobbying by Rohrbacher and Harman (see above).  A Pentagon investigation is looking into whether Congress, Air Force brass and C-17 manufacturer Boeing colluded to keep the line open against the wishes of OMB. 

Missile Defense

The most expensive weapons system ever created, missile defense spreads its wealth over every corner of the nation, attracting dozens of earmarks each year in the defense and military construction bills. But many of its Congressional quarterbacks hail from Alabama, home to the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Alabama produces several missile defense programs targeted for cuts, including the Multiple Kill Vehicle and Kinetic Energy Interceptor, as well as weapons such as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, a space weapon singled out for its runaway costs. Jeff Sessions (R), one of the state’s two senators, won his seat handily, while his colleague Richard Shelby (R ) will go up for reelection in 2010. Retiring Rep. Bud Cramer (D), whose district includes much of the defense activity, was replaced by Parker Griffith (D), who pledged to bring more money and jobs to the installations. Neighbor and missile defense stalwart Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), whose state includes major Naval defense operations by companies such as Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, also won his reelection bid.

For more information, contact Laura Peterson at info@taxpayer.net.